Duckling
by Earlie Birdie
Summary: Robin was definitely different now that he was in a relationship with Raven. But, it wasn't necessarily a bad difference.


_**A/N: **_Random drabbles pop into my head when I can't sleep. O_o

_**Disclaimer: **_This is a fan _fiction_ website. -_crickets_- Haha!

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Duckling

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_Robin was definitely different now that he was in a relationship with Raven. But, it wasn't necessarily a bad difference._

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Robin was definitely different now that he was in a relationship with Raven. But, it wasn't necessarily a _bad_ difference. It was a good difference. A really good one. Mostly because _she_ and the _relationship_ hadn't changed him, but both brought forth parts of his personality that he wasn't too keen on showing before because of the leader role that he strived to fill in.

One personality trait, in particular, was how soft he'd gotten. Starfire was the first to notice this because even though he was no longer her love (no longer _her_ boy), he was still one of her best friends. She always noticed when there was a change in her friends, especially her best friends. This was a talent Raven accredited to the alien's childlike personality. Open and curious, discovering the smallest details without even realizing it while everyone else let themselves become hard and grew up into adults.

"That's a beautiful gift, Starfire," Raven had told her. "Don't ever change."

That was when Starfire realized that Raven had become soft, too.

Softness wasn't a trait that any of them would have used to describe their leader. Not previously, anyway. Or to his face now. Actually, if anyone was to make him soft, it should have been Starfire, not Raven. But, as unbelievable as it was, he was softer now that he was with the empath than he ever was when he showed an interest in Starfire.

The alien didn't take any offense to that. When she thought about it, she and Robin wouldn't have lasted very long if they actually went through with their young crush mostly because that was all it was. A young crush. A young crush that was based on their fantasies and own fairytale versions of the other when they were too blinded by stars to see and accept each other for who they truly were.

Starfire definitely didn't think that she could have softened him up as much as Raven had, anyway. No matter how bright her smile and personality were. Although, the alien always did wonder how Raven had managed to do this - soften Robin up, that is. It was a pleasant change. He smiled and laughed more, he was less tense, and he was an all around easier person to be near. Starfire's own head canon (a word that she learned from Beastboy just the other day) was that by being comfortable with his emotions, he was actually attempting to make sure that Raven was more comfortable with her own emotions.

A splendid idea, Starfire would sometimes think to herself giddily, if it were to be true.

"Hey, Ducky," he finally said. He had been watching her for some time now. He did that a lot and she never seemed to mind.

In the kitchen and in front of the stove, Raven looked up from her teapot to give Robin a look. "Ducky?"

He nodded from his seat at the counter. "That's your new nickname."

Her face dropped. Then, she shut the fire off under the pot. Obviously, she needed to thoroughly examine this. "I'm not a duck. I'm a raven. My _name_ is even Raven, for goodness' sake."

"No duh, you're not a _duck_," he said with a bit of an impish smile, blatantly ignoring the fact that she had just informed him of her name. "That's why I called you '_ducky_'. It's a derivative of the word 'duckling'."

She crossed her arms and reclined beside the stove as if to say, '_Of course it is_'. "I'm a raven."

"Quack, quack."

"_Robin_."

He laughed before he stood to approach her, taking her hips into his hands. "You're even small like a duckling, duckling."

"There are baby ravens, you know."

"Yeah, but they're not cute." The growth in his smile showed that he didn't miss the blush on her cheeks. "No offense, duckling."

Her arms remained crossed when he placed his forehead on hers. "You sound like Mad Mod."

"Girls like British guys, right?"

"If you haven't noticed, I'm not really like other girls."

His smile softened and he moved closer to her, keeping her in between him and the counter. "I've noticed." Then, he placed a soft and lingering kiss onto her lips. "Quack, quack," he spoke against her lips.

This was when Starfire decided to finally enter. No matter how much fun it was to eavesdrop on those two (they really were fun to spy on), she was sure that Raven would send him to another dimension despite her feelings for him. "Hello, dear friends!" she exclaimed with arms wide open as she floated into the kitchen.

Raven raised a brow at him. "Saved by the alien."

Robin's smile grew, but he didn't remove his forehead from hers or let her go. In fact, he held her closer.

Starfire resisted the urge to squeal and sing for joy about how cute they were. Tempted as she was to offer them a pudding of joy, and then continue to make it and stuff it down their throats regardless of what their answer would have been, she settled for pouting. "Have I interrupted your cuddling session?"

"No."

"Yes."

"_Robin_."

It looked impossible, but his smile did grow. Raven's look withered a bit at that before she rolled her eyes. With a sigh, she turned her head to look at Starfire, her forehead still connected with Robin's. "We were just talking. It's no big deal."

From that lovestruck look on Robin's face, it seemed to be a pretty big deal to him. Even with the mask over his eyes, one could tell that he was thoroughly in love and taken by Raven. Years ago, Starfire would have been extremely and deathly jealous - _deathly_ jealous was not an exaggeration when it came to her. But, she was happy for them. Genuinely.

Starfire didn't miss the tender kiss that Robin placed into Raven's hair as he held her closer. She also didn't miss Raven's barely inconspicuous shuffling closer to him when he rested his chin at the top of her head.

_Soft. _They both were.

So, she let a smile grow onto her face with a giggle. "Very well. I shall leave you two to your cuddling session-"

"Not a cuddling session."

"Thank you."

With one final glance at them, Starfire floated away. Not to go to her room or to spare Robin the embarrassment of being sent to another dimension in front of her, but to continue spying on them. It was more fun when it was from afar. She didn't feel guilty because they really were cute. Plus, she knew that Cyborg and Beastboy regularly watched them in the control room when they had free time. Cyborg, to watch over his baby sister and Beastboy, because there was nothing good on television.

Once Starfire left, Raven removed her head from under Robin's chin to look at him. "Duckling."

He reached down to squeeze her backside. "You're even squishy like one."

"_Robin!_"

"That's a good thing!"

"Oh, my goodness."

He laughed and she shook her head, but there was a bit of a smile on her face. He kissed her forehead and he released his grip on her backside to resume holding her close. "Quack, quack."

A light laugh escaped her lips and she burrowed her face into his chest. "You're so stupid."

"Quack, quack," was the last thing he said before hiding his face into her hair with a sigh and they both grew quiet and settled into a silent embrace.

So, Starfire took her leave and made way for the control room. Her neck was starting to hurt and there were plush chairs up there. Plus, two of her friends paired with better views from multiple television screens guaranteed a good show that provided commentary.


End file.
